Cedric Pisegna - Faith Lasts Forever (01/21/2026)
Father Cedric reflects on 1 Corinthians 13, where faith, hope, and love abide forever, with love the greatest, envisioning these as his desired last words to sum up a life of authentic discipleship. He emphasizes faith as a transformative gift of grace that unites us with Christ, making us new creations who overcome the world rather than being overwhelmed by it. Faith brings practical victory: living one day at a time under God’s providence without anxiety, freedom from worldly pursuits of success toward eternal significance, and a healed self-image rooted in God’s unconditional love, replacing shame with dignity as redeemed children of God.
Welcome and Scripture from 1 Corinthians 13
Welcome to «Live With Passion»! I’m Father Cedric Pisegna, so glad that you tuned in. I am proclaiming to you a series about «Authentic Discipleship». And I want to talk about the gift, and it is a gift, the gift of faith. In order to follow Jesus, we need faith that transforms us. This comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 13. «Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall understand fully, even as I am understood fully. Therefore three things last forever: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love».
Jesus’s Last Words and Desired Last Words
I heard a priest give a homily one time and he talked about Jesus’s last words. Remember his last words on the cross? He said, «Father, into your hands i commit my spirit. It is finished». What was Jesus doing? He was voicing that prayer that he prayed every night before he went to bed. That’s what Jewish people did right before they went to bed, they prayed, they quoted a Psalm that said, «Into your hands I commit my spirit». That’s that surrender. I pray that every night right before I go to bed, «Father, into your hands I commit my spirit».
It’s a very beautiful prayer of surrender right from the Psalms, and that’s what Jesus was doing. Then he was summing up his whole life, his miracles, his teachings, his integrity, his character, doing the will of the Father, he said, «It is finished». What he did on the cross is he redeemed us, he did the will of God perfectly, and those were his last words. Then the priest said, «Those were Jesus last words, what would you like your last words to be»? And it made me think, «What would my last words wanna be»? I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about that, to kind of sum up my life and what I’m hoping for. And then, of course, as I just read to you from 1 Corinthians 13, that’s what I want my last words to be, «Three things last forever: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love».
Of course, love is that wanting the best for people, I spoke about relationships in one of my other episodes; forgiving people, accepting people being kind to people, love. They will know you are a Christian by your love, really important, authentic discipleship.
Hope and Faith in Discipleship
And then hope. We have a future blessed by God in heaven, a guarantee, a forever, a living hope, and even now. The prophet Jeremiah 29:11, «'I know the plans I have for you, ' says the Lord. 'A hope, '» a future full of hope. And then, of course, faith, I wanna concentrate on faith in this episode, it’s so important. We walk, remember what discipleship is, it’s a walk, it’s a journey. I talked about that in one of my other episodes, «We walk by faith, and not by sight, » or emotions or feelings.
Faith as a Gift and Grace
Faith is a gift, it’s a decision that we make to believe, but it begins, really, by grace. I did a whole series, I produced a whole series on grace, how it’s God’s initiative, God’s anointing, God’s power to help us, to bring us to the point where we believe, believe that Jesus is Lord, believe that he’s the Son of God, believe that he rose from the dead, believe he’s coming again. And that faith somehow becomes a channel to mediate grace to us that changes our life.
Union with Christ Through Faith
The first thing faith does is it brings us into communion, union with Christ.
The Bible puts it this way, «In Christ». We become a new creation in Christ, we become one with Christ, we are joined. Remember what Jesus said? «Abide in me, » and, «You will bear much fruit». This is joining with Jesus, made one with Jesus. Paul the Apostle wrote, and I’m discovering this, that, «It’s no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me». Paul writes that we actually have the mind, the thoughts of Christ, we have become a new creation in Christ. See, that’s what faith does, it’s transformative, we start off one way and then, when we have faith in Jesus, he becomes one with us, there’s this union, communion that transforms us into a new person, a new creation.
Victory Through Faith
«This is the victory, » 1 John 5, «This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith». And I like to say, instead of being overwhelmed, overcome. There’s all kinds of tribulations and hardships and sufferings and difficulties that can overwhelm us, but because of our faith, «This is the victory that overcomes the world, » our faith. Because of our faith in Jesus, we know that we know that, «We are more than conquerors through him who loves us». We can overcome through faith.
Faith as Practical Power
Faith is very practical. What I mean by that is that we can do whatever it is we need to do, whatever you’re facing in life, whatever difficulties or trials or blessings or opportunities that you’re facing in your life you can overcome, and you can do it through your faith in Jesus. There’s power there; very practical, new way to live.
Profession of Vows and God’s Providence
I wanted to tell you I was professed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This is back in 1985, almost 40 years ago. I professed a Passionist, religious vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, vow to remember the passion, those are my four vows. There was eight of us young men being professed there back in 1985, and we had a reading read at that mass, and it comes from the Gospel of Matthew, about God taking care of us. This is what faith does, it puts you under the providence of God and God’s care for you, God’s protection. The reading was this: Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, «Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious about your life. Don’t be anxious about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself, » take it one day at a time.
You see, believers are in the hand of God, it’s a wonderful place to be, it’s a safe place to be. Don’t be anxious, don’t worry, don’t get all bent out of shape, don’t get shook. I know life is a tribulation but Jesus is saying live for today, don’t worry about tomorrow. It’ll be okay, God will take care of you. See, that’s what faith does, it puts you in the flow of God, the grace of God, the protection of God, the safety of God.
Preparation vs. Worry
Now, you prepare for tomorrow, I’ve learned that, I didn’t just come to the studio and talk off the top of my head, I prepared months in advance for these talks. You prepare for tomorrow, but you don’t worry about it because you know that God’s gonna take care of it. You cast your care, not your responsibility, that’s what 1 Peter says, «Cast your care on God, because God cares for you». You cast your care on God, but not your responsibility. Be responsible for tomorrow, but you live for today, knowing that God’s gonna take care of tomorrow. This is what Jesus taught.
Choosing Simplicity Over Worldly Success
Now, I studied business in college. I remember I had marketing and management, and all these different accounting courses, and it was all about money, making money, stocks, bonds, investments, money, the rat race. And it led to a lot of distress and anxiety in me, suffering panic attacks and phobias, and it just seemed like this big burden, all this money, and the pressure and everything else. I decided that I didn’t want to live with all that, I wanted to live simply, have peace.
I think about Saint Francis of Assisi, my favorite saint, his father wanted him to be a clothing merchant just like himself, like his father was, a wealthy clothing merchant. Francis didn’t want that, he came to Christ and realized that he was a new creation in Christ, and he didn’t care about the money and didn’t care about all that. He wanted to live simply, wanted to live under the providence of God. He did a very radical act.
Right before the bishop and his father in the town Piazza, he stripped himself naked, gave his clothes to his father, and he said, «Now I have no father but my Father in heaven». Wow. And he lived joyfully, simply, thousands upon thousands of people came to the gospel because of his simplicity and his gospel joy. I love Saint Francis of Assisi, tremendous saint. And I love his detachment from the world, he was in the world but not of the world, and that’s exactly discipleship.
Freedom and Significance Through Faith
You see, faith in Jesus brings us a new freedom. Life is not about success, it’s about significance. I learned in college all about success, and I’m not saying don’t be successful of course, I’m saying be significant, make sure you are putting your money toward the ultimate. Remember the beginning? «Three things last forever: faith, hope, and love, » because the rest of it’s all gonna be burnt up, it’s not gonna matter. All these sports you see on television, I know, I’m a sports fan, people invest their whole life in all that, all gonna be burnt up, nobody’s gonna remember that on judgment day.
Invest yourself in what matters, faith in Jesus.
One Day at a Time Wisdom
The wisdom of the 12-step says, «Take it one day at a time, » I love that. «One thing at a time, » «Just for today, » these are saying from the 12-step program. What they’re talking about is you remain sober for today; if you start thinking about tomorrow and next week and all year long, you’re probably gonna fall off the wagon and fall out of recovery, because it’s just seems so overwhelming to wait that long. How can I be in recovery, how can I not drink for a whole year? Just for today, one day at a time.
That is such great wisdom, it’s the wisdom of the 12-step program. People get addicted, first of all, because they feel overwhelmed, but by faith, and you come into recovery by faith; believing in your higher power, instead of being overwhelmed, you overcome, you live in recovery. Same for us as disciples, instead of being overwhelmed, we take it one day at a time. If I think about all the things that I have to do, all the sermons that I have to preach, all the books that I’m writing, all the places that I have to go, I feel overwhelmed. But if I take it one day at a time, I live in victory. I’m responsible, I do what I have to do to prepare, I told you about that, but I really try to live one day at a time, believing in God’s providence. You too, you can do it. Don’t be overwhelmed, overcome, this is the victory.
Personal Experience of Faith in College
In college, Jesus touched me, I had this wonderful experience of the Holy Spirit, through faith, as I came to him, simply believing. You can’t earn it, but you can receive it, and faith is what helps you to receive. And I changed my major from business, wanted to make a lot of money, to social work, to getting involved with people. I talked about relationships in one of my episodes. You wanna be an authentic disciple? You must be involved with people, it’s not a privatized religion.
Story from Emergency Care Shelter
And I worked at what’s called an emergency care shelter. I was in social work, I was gonna be a social worker. Went to an emergency care shelter, get this, for emotionally disturbed adolescents.
I worked with young people that were kind of off the charts, the «Energizer» bunny, if you know what I mean, and hyperactive emotionally, and not really stable. One time, one of the counselors gathered us all together, we sat in a circle. Here are these kids that love to bounce off the walls, and there were probably three of us counselors at a time at this shelter, probably 10, 11, 12 kids at a time in this place. One of the counselors was a guitar player, and he gathered us all around and we all sat and we listened to him. And I will never forget, he played this song, it was very acoustic, very slow, it was called «One Day At A Time». And I saw kids that normally bounce off the walls, they’re hyperactive, the «Energizer» bunny, sit there in peace. It was like the grace of Jesus descended upon everybody there. And that’s what Jesus was preaching when he said don’t be anxious for tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself, take it one day at a time. He was talking about God’s providence.
Serenity in Discipleship
That’s why I had that read at my profession, because as a religious I was committing myself to God and to people, to the community. As a religious, been a religious now for about 40 years, I wanna live my life that way, I don’t want to be anxious and overwhelmed and burdened like the rest of the world. Discipleship should bring you something. Certainly it brings eternal life in the future, but I need something now, the provenance of God, the protection of God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. I love Psalm 1:31, let me read it. «Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes aren’t raised too high; I don’t occupy with things that are too great for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, » like a child quieted at his mother’s breast. That’s discipleship, authentic discipleship; serenity, peace, calm, joy, blessing.
New Self-Image Through Faith
I want to express that faith brings us a whole new way of looking at ourselves. What do I mean by that? By faith, we receive the Holy Spirit, we become, as Paul wrote, a new creation, we’re different than the way we used to be. As Catholics, we believe that through our baptism into Christ, and by faith, we have been changed and transformed, and we don’t look at ourselves the way we used to. You see, to be human is to struggle with self-esteem, self-image. Norman Vincent Peel wrote that book, «The Power of Positive Thinking, » and he says that most people struggle with self-deprecating thoughts. We all know that, we’ve been through that self-image problems, self-esteem, thinking, «I can’t do it, » all those type of things.
In addition to that, part and parcel of being human is the result of original sin. What was the result of original sin? Shame and guilt, and we’re all familiar with shame and guilt. Faith changes that, changes us.
Understanding Shame
I’ll explain that in a minute, but the first effect of the Fall was shame, remember? Adam and Eve were ashamed, they got some vegetation to cover themselves up. I read a book, classic book by John Bradshaw called «Healing the Shame That Binds You». Shame is the emotional pain that we feel when we do something wrong. Back in the eighth grade, I was in confirmation class, it was probably 30, 40 of us sitting in the church preparing to be confirmed, going through the rehearsal. I was sitting with my friend, one of my best friends, and I wasn’t even really joking around, he asked me a question and I turned to him in response, the priest up front saw it and he said, «Young man, stand up».
Right in front of the class, I had to stand up, and he said, «I want you to leave, and if you want to be confirmed, you have to talk to your parents and then come to the rectory and talk to me». I was embarrassed, but I had to go to my parents, I was so ashamed, I just got kicked out of my confirmation class. I mean, does that mean God doesn’t like me or love me, is he rejecting me? And it was terrible. I went to my parents, I felt ashamed that I had to go knock on the door of the priest, and it was a very shameful event for me. They accepted me, finally, and I got confirmed, but I’m talking about what shame is. Shame results when you do wrong, you can do shameful deeds.
Toxic Shame
John Bradshaw, in his book, he talked about something called toxic shame.
That’s when you interiorize the shame, you’re ashamed not only of your deeds, but of who you are. It’s called a shame-based nature. Instead of, «I did wrong, » «I am wrong, » instead of, «I didn’t do good, » «I am no good». You interiorize the shame. And this can happen because of abuse, it can happen because you can’t find a job, you feel ashamed. A divorce can bring shame. Your parental upbringing, if they didn’t give you the right upbringing, you can have a shame-based nature. Also, you can be ashamed of the way you look; if you’re bald, overweight, disfigured somehow. I remember in high school there was a young man who had a birthmark right over his eye, some of the students called him Jupiter because of the bright red spot. It was a very shameful thing for him. Nobody wanted to sit with him at lunch.
As a teenager, I contracted acne, I cannot tell you how devastated I was. In the years that I’m looking for girls and friends, my high school years, I get acne. Talk about making me feel unconfident, it was devastating for me and it made me ashamed of who I was. I became isolated, introverted, shy, withdrawn.
Turning Stumbling into Treasure
But there’s a saying that I love, and I want you to get this, where you stumble, dig for treasure. I hope you got that. Where you stumble, dig for treasure. In other words, your afflictions can lead to advancement. That’s faith, believing that even in your sufferings God is at work, your problems can lead to promotion, you can turn your scars into stars, you can go from the superficial to the supernatural.
Healing Through Faith
Faith in Jesus brought about in me a revolution, I discovered that God’s love for me was healing and I found a new self-acceptance, not because of the way I looked or my performance or my money or my relationships, but because my dignity and my identity lay in being a redeemed child of God, loved by Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit. We have to rise above what the culture says makes us right and understand that, because of God’s love, because of his presence in us we are a dignified child of God.
I used to be so ashamed, now I have honor and dignity, confidence, self-worth and self esteem, not because of my accomplishments, not because of my relationships, not because of the way I look, but because of my faith in Christ, and it’s the same for you.
You may have a shame-based nature. Perhaps you were abused, maybe your parents didn’t treat you right when you were very young, it could be you don’t like the way you look. The bottom line is that your self-image and self-esteem and self-worth is not based on that, it’s based on God’s love for you. That’s what faith is, that’s what it means to be a disciple.
Summary of Authentic Discipleship Through Faith
Number one, you are one in Christ; number two, it’s a whole new way to live, you live one day at a time, you don’t have to be anxious and ride up; and number three, you have dignity and worth and value. Instead of being overwhelmed, you overcome.
«This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith». This whole series has been about being an authentic disciple. I talked about many different things, talked about coming to Christ in surrender, speaking well with your words, having good, harmonious relationships. And I want to end with that beautiful theme, that gift, that grace, that is, faith. «Three things last forever: faith, hope, and love». And may Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Don’t just live, live with passion.